Prophecy Fest announce the 2023 edition of the festival in Germany. Prophecy Fest will bring more dark, forward thinking music with an attitude to one of the world’s most fascinating cultural locations, the legendary, natural Cave of Balve (“Balver Höhle”) in September 2023.
Prophecy Productions proudly present a three day event that will begin on Thursday, September 7 and conclude with a final concert starting before midnight of Saturday, September 9.
The first acts have already been confirmed with many more to be added in due time: Disillusion, Dornenreich, Gráb, Bethlehem, and Darkher.
Disillusion have just released the latest full-length album “Ayam” that scored abum of the month titles in Metal Hammer (DE) 7/7, MetalObs (FR), and Metal.de (DE) as well as a #2 in the Soundcheck of Rock Hard (DE) 9,5/10, 10/10 in Ave Noctum (UK), and also reached #35 in the official German album charts. Dornenreich have announced that Balve will be exclusively witnessing the only metal show in 2023 that the Austrian dark arcane rockers will perform in 2023. Gráb will make their appearance even more exclusive, because the Bavarian black metal act never intended to perform live. After attending Prophecy Fest 2022 as guests, they changed their minds and agreed to play one show only, which will take place next year in Balve. Please see below for more details. With Bethlehem one of the influential instigators of the German black metal scene will return to the stage after a prolonged absence. The band evolved musically in a convoluted and complex process that fits the ever changing nature of their sound, which is currently often dubbed ‘dark metal’. And last but sure never least, one of 2022’s obvious audience favourites will return to Balve in the shape of Jayn Maiven’s beautifully melancholic Darkher!
Martin Koller comments: “I am stoked to announce another edition of Prophecy Fest in Balve next year”, the label’s founder declares. “There will be more exciting and exclusive performances to be announced over the course of the next months, but we are confident to present you with a great billing once again. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer you tickets for the same price as last year, but by now most of you will have heard of the fast rising costs in the live sector. We have done our best to keep the increase as moderate as possible and one of the measures is the introduction of a comfort ticket. You can read more about this supplement below. We sincerely hope to see you all in Balve next September!”
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*Tickets*
As in previous years, a 3-day-pass incl. a programme book will be made available again. The regular ticket price has been set to 129 Euro. In addition to the basic ticket, it will be possible to acquire a supplementary ticket that grants faster access to the festival ground and the merchandise booth as well as the possibility to shower at a nearby facility. As a new feature, each person that wants to stay at the camping grounds has to purchase a camping ticket. It will no longer be possible to acquire tickets per tent or car. Tickets will be inspected at the entrance and we therefore strongly advise to get your camping ticket in advance in order to speed up the check-in process.
Basic ticket 129 Euro / Comfort supplement 60 Euro / Camping ticket 15 Euro // Ticket shop
https://tickets.prophecy.de/en/tickets/prophecyfest
Members of the Grand Supporter tiers of the PROPHECY CLUB will be able to attend the festival free of admission charge. Please check here for availability and conditions (subscribe button under each Grand Supporter paragraph): https://en.prophecy.de/en/Prophecy-Club-Membership
*Location & Travel*
Prophecy Fest was founded in 2015 and already already sold out at the first edition. This singular event for dark and innovative music takes place in the Balver Kulturhöhle (“Balve culture cave”) in the Hönnetal (“Valley of Hönne”) near the town of Balve in the Sauerland region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The naturally formed karst cave has been used by humans already during the palaeolithic age. Is is an important archaeological site that yielded remains from many periods up and until medieval times. According to legend and the old Icelandic Thidreksaga, the mythical blacksmith Wayland learned his magical trade from dwarven masters in this cave.
The gravity of its history and the special acoustics of the Balver Cave provide a unique atmosphere that fits the musical programme of the Prophecy Fest perfectly.
For detailed information on accommodation, travel, and parking please consult the Prophecy Festival page: https://fest.prophecy.de
The page will be updated regularly towards the festival.
*Confirmed bands*:
Conceived in the East Germany city of Zwickau in 1994, Disillusion pulled the rare trick of already becoming a staple in the field of avant-garde melodic death metal with the release of their debut “Back to Times of Splendor” in 2004. Since then, the Germans have been driven to seek new challenges and find new ways to evolve their music, which reached a new peak on their acclaimed latest album “Ayam”.
Dornenreich were formed by frontman Eviga and ex-member Valnes in 1996. The Austrians were inspired by melodic black metal on their debut “Nicht um zu sterben” (1997), but have developed a wider stylistic horizon on the next 7 albums by including acoustic elements derived from folklore and classical music. Their last much praised album “Du wilde Liebe sei” has been dubbed “dark arcane rock”.
Gráb never intended to play live. Then they came to Prophecy Fest 2022. Now they do. But only one time. Ever. Founded by former DARK FORTRESS fronter Grant, the very well-received first album of the black metal project, “Zeitlang”, is entirely written in Bavarian dialect – as is the bandname, which means “old” or “grey” and tells the story of a recluse living and dying as a hermit in the Alpine mountains.
When Bethlehem set out to spread sinister misanthropy in 1991, they quickly developed into an influential acts of the German black metal scene, but soon evolved into a complex and radical direction often called dark metal. Revolving around mastermind and bass player Jürgen Bartsch, the band’s history is as complex as their meandering titles. Finally they will come back to bring darkness to the cave!
Darkher wove magic at last year’s edition and hardly surprising we received high demand for the spectacularly red-haired front-lady Jayn Maiven to return to Balve. The self-proclaimed witch and her unique blend of Northern English doom metal, folk and other elements promise another emotional roller-coaster ride through darkness, hope, and despair. We are thrilled to be able to oblige your wish.